Ace Attorney OneShots

11. Phoenix X Iris

"Mr. Wright. Mr. Wright, wake up." Iris shook Phoenix as he slept soundly. The room was a lot warmer than the others, due to him not being used to the cold temperature that was all around the temple. After all, he wasn't an acolyte in training.

"Nngh..." Phoenix opened up his eyes a bit. "What the..?"

"Good morning, Mr. Wright." Iris smiled down at him.

"Oh, good morning Iris." Phoenix smiled back and slowly sat up.

"How was your rest?"

"Pretty good. I'm glad I got my own separate room. It's so much warmer here than Maya's room. Thank you for that."

"Oh no, it's no problem. You should probably come to the dining hall soon. Everyone has already had dinner."

"Already?" Phoenix looked up at the clock. "It's 8:00, what time did they have it?"

"3:00. Training starts fairly early."

"3:00?! What time did they sleep to still get an adequate amount of sleep?!" He thought to himself. Phoenix widened his eyes a bit. Iris laughed a bit.

"It's a bit unreal for you, but it's normal for us Spirit Mediums."

"So, you're saying you were up since three?"

"Yes. I was sent to wake you up because I finished my morning waterfall early. I'm about to go for my meditation session."

"Oh, alright. You go ahead and do that. I'll be at the dining hall as soon as I can."

"Thank you." Iris began to walk out the door. Before she went out she turned back. "By the way, I'm..sorry for tricking you." Phoenix made a confused expression.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you remember that last trial right? I tricked you for seven long months. I pretended to be my sister, and I was dating you in place of her. I actually started to like you a bit, but as you know she had different plans. I was just another part of the plan, but I really am sorry that I tricked you."

"Oh no, it's okay. It was just a tiny bit of a shock to me, that's all. Don't worry about it." Phoenix smiled. "Wait a second, did she say she started to like me?" He blushed a little when he thought about it.

"Mr. Wright? You're looking a little red, are you okay?" Iris asked, concerned.

"U-um yeah! I'm fine! Just...did you say you um...."

"What is it?"

"Did you say you...started to like me?"

"A-ahh!" Iris turned away to hide her face and blushed.

"I-I'm sorry!"

"No no! It's okay!" Iris turned back to him, her long sleeve over her face to hide it. "I guess I've been meaning to say it for a while now. I just didn't know when to tell you, and I was worried about what you would say." Phoenix just sat there while she told him the story. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better. Because it was true. He didn't love Iris the way he loved her sister. He honestly felt bad for her. Having to hide behind the mask of her sister when she, secretly as Iris loved him. Phoenix looked down.

"I'm sorry. I won't ever be able to love you the way I loved her. Even if it was you all along, you're a completely different person to me now. My feelings for her have gone ever since she tried to kill me. Even so, I just can't love you."

"Oh, I see." Iris looked down a bit. Then, out of nowhere Phoenix stood up and hugged her tight.

"Because I see you as a friend. I can't exactly love one of my friends like that, can I?" He smiled down at her. Iris had tears welling in her eyes and she buried her face in Phoenix's chest.

"That's all I needed to hear. Thank you!" Iris smiled at him. Phoenix smiled back and let go. Iris wiped her eyes of her tears. She was happy enough with him what she heard, and she couldn't ask for more. Iris turned to walk out. "Let's go get you some breakfast, shall we?"

"Yeah definitely." And with that, Phoenix walked out the door with Iris.